The most important mineral resources on the territory of Crimea are the iron ores of the Kerch Peninsula, flammable gases, oil of the Crimean plain and salts in the waters of salt lakes and Sivash. Crimea is also very rich in various types of mineral building materials, many of which are exported beyond its borders.
Other types of mineral raw materials, such as fossil coal, ores of non-ferrous and precious metals, as well as non-metallic minerals (sulfur, phosphorites, etc.) in Crimea are represented only by manifestations of mineralogical interest.
Iron ores
Iron ores on the Kerch Peninsula occur in the form of a layer up to 8-12 m thick among the marine sediments of the Cimmerian stage of the Middle Pliocene. They, together with other Pliocene deposits, fill individual flat synclines (troughs).The most well explored troughs are Kamyshburunskaya, Eltigen-Ortelskaya, Kerch, Kyz-Aulskaya. A total of nine troughs filled with iron ore deposits are known. Ore is mined in the Kamyshburun and Eltigen-Ortel deposits. The ore comes in three varieties. Along the periphery of the trough, loose brownish-brown ores predominate, consisting of oolites and concretions ranging in size from several millimeters to several centimeters in diameter, embedded in an iron-clay cementing mass. Oolites and concretions consist of limonite (2Fe 2 O 3 ·3H 2 O) and hydrogoethite (3Fe 2 O 3 ·4H 2 O). In the central parts of the troughs, denser ores predominate, consisting of smaller oolitic grains of the same composition, hydrosilicates of iron and siderite, which play the role of cement. This ore has a characteristic greenish tint and is called “tobacco”. In addition, among the brown and tobacco ores there are lenses and layers of loose crumbly so-called “caviar” ore, consisting of unconsolidated oolitic grains, in which an increased content of manganese hydroxides is observed.
Kerch ores contain from 33 to 40% iron. They are thus poor, but the occurrence conditions that allow them to be extracted by quarries and their relative fusibility determine their high industrial value. In addition, they contain an admixture of manganese (up to 2% in the Kamyshburun trough), which is an alloying metal that improves the properties of steel obtained from these ores.
The ores accumulated at the bottom of shallow bays and straits between the islands of the Cimmerian sea basin. Iron compounds were carried away by water flows from the surrounding shores in hot climates, when the processes of weathering and soil formation led to the formation of red-colored soils.
In addition to the listed ores, layers and concretions of clayey siderites are known in the Lower Jurassic deposits of the Crimean Mountains. They have no industrial significance due to their insignificant total content in the rock. Their chemical composition (in%) is given in table. 5.
Bauxite
In 1962, on the northern slope of the Main Ridge, in the area of the Bazman-Kermen Mountains, employees of the Institute of Mineral Resources of the Academy of Sciences of the Ukrainian SSR discovered samples of bauxite, chemical analyzes of which showed a high content (up to 43-54%) of alumina.As a result of the work of the Crimean complex geological expedition, carried out jointly with the staff of MGRI, it was established that the bauxite-bearing rock lies at the base of the variegated strata of the Upper Tithonian - Lower Valanginian, lying unconformably on the pelitomorphic massively layered limestones of Oxford. Bauxite has an oolitic structure and consists of beans cemented by a dense clayey mass of red-brown color. The lower layer of oolites at the base of the sequence has a variable thickness from 0 to 15 m and fills the karst topography of the Oxford limestones. Higher up the section, the variegated sequence consists of interbedded clastic red limestones with the inclusion of bauxite beans and thin layers of bauxite, calcareous conglomerates, fine-clastic limestones, clayey sandstones and quartz gravelites. The thickness of the productive strata with bauxite layers and inclusions of individual beans reaches 25-40 m, including the lowest thickest bauxite layer.
The variegated sequence, together with the underlying sequence of Oxford limestones, forms a synclinal structure, oriented within the Bazman-Kermen massif in the meridional direction and cut off from the west by a fault of the same strike. Outcrops of the base of a variegated sequence with horizons of bauxite rock are observed on the eastern flank of the structure. The total area of distribution of the productive strata is approximately 1.8 km 2 .
In addition to the Bazman-Kermen area, areas within the northern slope of the Main Ridge (Mountains Kutor-Bogaz, Chernorechenskoye) are promising for identifying bauxite deposits - in areas of transgressive overlapping of Tithonian limestones on reefogenic Oxfordian limestones.
Mercury ores and ores of other metals
In recent years, in the Crimean Mountains, inclusions and small veins of cinnabar have been discovered among the rocks of the Tauride series and the Middle Jurassic, in particular among tuff lava rocks. Ore veinlets and dissemination are usually confined to zones of crushing and faulting among Tauride and Middle Jurassic rocks. Manifestations of cinnabar are known in the Maly Salgir valley near Simferopol, in the area of the Angarsk Pass and other places. They have been studied, but no industrial deposits have yet been discovered.Ores of other metals, including zinc blende, greenockite (cadmium blende) and lead luster, as well as malachite, which are found occasionally in the Crimea, are of only mineralogical interest. They are present in the form of individual phenocrysts or form veins in cracks in the igneous rocks of Ayudag, the Totaykoy massif (near Simferopol) and other places.
Coal
Crimea's coal resources are very small and do not have much prospects for expansion.Small layers, inclusions and nests of coal among the Middle Jurassic deposits in the mountainous part of Crimea are quite common. However, only one industrial deposit is known - Beshuyskoye. It is located on the northern slope of the Main Ridge, in the upper reaches of the river. Kachi. In the lower part of the Middle Jurassic section in deposits belonging to the Lower Bayoe, among sandstones and clayey rocks, coal seams of working thickness are known here. The coals contain a significant amount of ash and are therefore not of high quality. Interesting in them are the inclusions of special resinous coal “jet”, formed from the trunks of coniferous plants. The deposit is of small, purely local significance. Its development was carried out periodically on a small scale using adits and mines.
Oil and flammable gases
Oil fields on the Kerch Peninsula have been known for a very long time (since the 70s of the last century) and were exploited by private entrepreneurs even in the pre-revolutionary years. However, oil fields were studied in detail only after the revolution, and real exploration and exploitation began after the Great Patriotic War, in the very last years. Oil occurs in Oligocene (Maikop) and Middle Miocene sands and sandstones of the Kerch Peninsula and is confined to many anticlinal folds. It has been mined in very small quantities since 1896 at the Priozernoye (Chongelek) deposit, near the shore of the Kerch Strait. Oil occurs here at a depth of over 500 m in the axial part of the anticline, in the Middle Miocene layers. During exploration work, oil was also encountered in other anticlines of the Kerch Peninsula.In particular, the Moshkarevskoye field was discovered east of Feodosia with small industrial oil production from Maikop deposits (Kerleut horizon). A quickly dried up gush of oil struck in 1956 near Vladislavovka from the Maikop series.
In recent years, intensified search and exploration work for oil and flammable gases has begun in the Crimean plain. In particular, after 1955, many anticlines of the Tarkhankut swell and the Dzhankoy region were explored by drilling. Combustible gas was obtained from many wells on the Olenevskaya, Oktyabrskaya, Glebovskaya, and Zadornenskaya anticlines. Fissured Paleocene calcareous marls and sandstones turned out to be gas-bearing. On the Glebovskaya anticline, gas deposits were delineated, their reserves were calculated, and their development began. Since 1965, gas has been supplied to Simferopol via a gas pipeline. On the Oktyabrskaya anticline, wells produced gas and oil from Albian deposits from a depth of about 2700-2900 m. Later, emissions and fountains of flammable gas were obtained by wells in the eastern part of the plain Crimea - on the Dzhankoy uplift and in the area of the village. Strelkovoy on the Arabatskaya Strelka. Here the gas is associated with sandy horizons in the Maikop series.
The Plain Crimea, especially the Tarkhankutsky swell and the Kerch Peninsula are promising for identifying new industrial deposits of pelvis and oil.
Salts and medicinal muds
There are numerous salt lakes along the shores of the Crimean plain and the Kerch Peninsula. The most famous are Saki and Sasyk-Sivash near Evpatoria, lakes of the Perekop group in the north of Crimea and a number of lakes - Chokrakskoye, Tobechikskoye, Uzunlarskoye and others - on the Kerch Peninsula. All of them represent salt lakes with varying salt concentrations. In addition to them, huge reserves of salts are in a dissolved state in Sivash. The concentration of salts in it is increased and at the same time varies in different parts of the bay depending on the time of year, rain, surge of water through the strait and other reasons.Crimean salt lakes are a natural source for the production of various salts, among which sodium chloride and table salt play the main role.
Some salt lakes are rich in healing mud, widely used in Evpatoria and other places for medicinal purposes. Muds are fine silts deposited in salt lake conditions and are usually enriched in organic matter, giving them a black color, and an odor of hydrogen sulfide. The most famous are the healing muds of the Sake and Moinak lakes near Evpatoria, used to treat rheumatism, radiculitis and many other diseases.
Construction materials and other minerals
The Crimean peninsula is very rich in various types of natural building materials and in this regard can serve as a raw material base for the development of the building materials industry. Some of their species are very important and are almost never found in other parts of the Soviet Union.Igneous rocks. Due to their great mechanical strength, igneous rocks are a valuable material for paving roads: in the form of crushed stone for highways or paving stones for pavements in cities. Most small intrusive massifs and larger laccoliths are more or less widely exploited. Some of them have even already been fully developed. Production is especially developed near Simferopol and on the southern coast of Crimea. Here, near Frunze, diorite was mined for the manufacture of stair steps and facing slabs.
Among the igneous rocks, especially noteworthy are the tracks - acidic volcanic rocks that make up part of the main peak of Karadag. The routes were used in ground form as an additive to cement, greatly improving its properties.
Gravel and sand coastal sea beaches and spits are used as ballast material in the construction of highways and railways and for other purposes. The sands of the Evpatoria beach, in particular, were used for the construction of the Dnieper hydroelectric station.
Sandstones from the Tauride series, Middle Jurassic and other deposits serve everywhere as cheap rubble building stone, from which many rural buildings in the Crimean Mountains are constructed.
Clays. Lower Cretaceous clays, distinguished by the fineness of their composition and great plasticity, are an excellent material for the manufacture of building bricks and roofing tiles. They are used for these purposes in many places - near Feodosia, Old Crimea, Balaklava, Simferopol, etc. Other clays and loams are also used in places.
Speaking about clays, one cannot fail to mention a special, very plastic light clay, the so-called keel, or kefekelite, which occurs in the form of thin layers among the Upper Cretaceous deposits in the area of Bakhchisarai and Simferopol. Keel has a special ability to adsorb fats, due to which it has been used since ancient times as soap and as fulling clay for degreasing wool.
Limestones and marls. Among building materials, Crimea is richest in various carbonate rocks. They are very diverse and the possibilities for using them are also very different.
Almost all varieties that have sufficient mechanical strength are suitable as a simple rubble stone; they are used everywhere.
Chemically pure limestones are used for lime burning. For this purpose, in many places, Upper Jurassic and nummulitic Eocene limestones are used, as well as some varieties of Upper Tertiary - Sarmatian and Maeotic on the Kerch Peninsula.
Upper Jurassic limestones, distinguished by their particularly pure chemical composition, are used as a flux in metallurgical plants.
Marbled varieties of Upper Jurassic limestone, usually yellowish or reddish tones, are used as facing material. They were mined and sawn into slabs in a number of deposits near Balaklava (Kadykovka) and Simferopol (Mramornoe). Marble facing slabs were used, in particular, in the construction of the Moscow metro (Komsomolskaya station, Lenin Library and others).
Upper Jurassic limestones, as well as Upper Cretaceous marls and limestones, can, in addition, be a raw material for the production of cement.
Limestone-shell rocks have a very special significance in Crimea. Being very porous, some of their varieties can be easily sawed with a simple saw or sawing machine. Thanks to this them. mining is very convenient and they easily make excellent building material in the form of neatly cut rectangular piece stones. Such limestones are especially common among the Pontic deposits of the Evpatoria region and the Maeotic rocks of the Kerch Peninsula. They lined many buildings in Simferopol and Sevastopol, including the Panorama of the Defense of Sevastopol.
Gypsum. In Crimea, two small deposits of gypsum are known on the Kerch Peninsula. Both are associated with Middle Miocene deposits.
In Sarmatian deposits on the Kerch Peninsula there are, in addition, tripoli, as well as a small deposit of asphalt limestone.
Mineral paints. Siderite nodules and layers, occurring in various clayey strata of Jurassic and Cretaceous deposits, have various colors - brown, brown, dark red, bright red, orange, yellow, pink, etc. They can be used to make various mineral paints (umber, mummy, ocher, etc.).
Mineral water
Individual mineral springs have long been known in Crimea, but mineral water resources have truly begun to be identified only in recent years. For the comprehensive development of resorts in Crimea, mineral waters, of course, can play an exceptional role.Mineral waters are now used in several areas. On the outskirts of the city of Feodosia, weakly mineralized water emerges from the Lower Cretaceous deposits, which are known under the name “Crimean Narzan”, and from the Upper Cretaceous marls near Mount Lysaya near Feodosia, a well obtained water before the October Revolution, which goes on sale under the name “Feodosia”.
A source of weakly mineralized water was discovered in the valley of the river. Kachi near Bakhchisarai, where it is associated with Upper Cretaceous deposits. In the Belogorsk area near the village. Medicinal yields of sulfate waters, valuable in balneological terms, but limited in quantity, are known. They are associated with Lower Cretaceous deposits.
The waters of sands of the Hauterivian stage (Mazan Formation), discovered by wells in a number of places in the flat part of Crimea between Simferopol and Evpatoria, are now of greatest importance in Crimea. The water from these deposits comes from a depth of several hundred meters, has a temperature of 20-35° and is significantly mineralized. Mineralization increases towards the deep parts of the Alma depression towards Evpatoria. In the area of the Saki resort, one of the wells received this water with a high flow rate; It is also used there for baths for medicinal purposes and bottled. This water was called “Crimean Borjomi”, since its composition resembles the famous Borjomi water, but is less mineralized.
Undoubtedly, the hydrogen sulfide waters of the Kerch Peninsula with a higher concentration of hydrogen sulfide than in Matsesta are of great balneological interest. Hydrogen sulfide waters are associated with sandy deposits of the Middle Miocene; the sources are located in places where these deposits emerge in the wings of anticlines.
Notes
1. This work is carried out by Krymneftegazrazvedka.CHAPTER I THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF STUDYING NATURAL RESOURCES
I.1 The essence of the concept of “natural resources”
I.2 Classification of natural resources
CHAPTER II CHARACTERISTICS OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF CRIMEA
II.1 Land resources of Crimea
II.2 Climate resources
II.3 Recreational resources
II.4 Mineral resources of Crimea
CHAPTER III PROBLEMS OF RATIONAL USE OF NATURAL RESOURCES OF THE CRIMEA PENINSULA
III.1 Environmental problems in the use of natural resources of Crimea
III.2 Solving problems of rational use of natural resources
CONCLUSION
LIST OF SOURCES USED
APPLICATIONS
INTRODUCTION
Crimea is a peninsula richly endowed with natural resources. The geographical location determines many favorable conditions of the Crimean land. There are 4 state reserves on the territory of Crimea: the Crimean and Kara-Dag reserves, the Yalta mountain forest reserve, and the Cape Martyan reserve. Mineral resources are represented by iron ores, natural gas deposits on the Azov shelf, as well as deposits of building materials and fluxing limestones (Balaklava, Agarmysh mountain range, etc.), salt riches of Sivash and lakes. There are deposits of semi-precious stones in the Karadag region. The southern coast of Crimea is one of the most important resort areas of the CIS. However, “Now there is an increasing awareness that the true wealth of the peninsula is its land, climatic, and recreational resources.”
Relevance of the topic. Nature is the habitat of man and the source of all the benefits he needs for life and production activities. Man is a part of nature, its creation, he can produce only using its resources, and live only in those natural conditions to which he is genetically adapted. Irrational use of natural resource potential entails negative consequences both for nature itself and for humans. Therefore, the most complete consideration of the problem of rational use of the natural resources of Crimea in a complex is necessary for their more efficient exploitation, which determines the relevance of the topic.
Goal of the work . The purpose of the course work is to assess the natural resources of Crimea, study the problems and ways to improve their rational use. In accordance with the set goal, the following tasks will be solved in the work.
1. Define the concept of “natural resources”.
2. Study the features of the classification of natural resources.
3. Consider the main natural resources of Crimea.
4. Assess the provision of the Crimean Peninsula with natural resources.
5. Analyze the problems of their rational use.
6. Determine ways to improve the rational use of Crimea’s natural resources.
Object of study of this course work - the natural resources of Crimea, and subject of work - rational use of natural resources.
Theoretical and methodological basis of the work are the works of: Bagrova N.V. , Eny V.G., Bokova V.A. , Shcherbak A.I., Bagrovoy L.A. , Romanova E.P., Kurakova L.I. etc. When writing the work, geographical reference books and encyclopedias were used, as well as materials from seminars and the Internet.
The following were used in the work scientific research methods: literary-descriptive, systematic, comparative, method of analysis.
The course work consists of an introduction, three chapters, a conclusion, a list of references (24 titles), 1 table, 1 figure, 4 appendices. The total volume of work is 39 pages (without attachments).
CHAPTER I THEORETICAL ASPECTS OF STUDYING NATURAL RESOURCES
I.1 The essence of the concept of “natural resources”
“Natural resources” is one of the most frequently used concepts in the literature. In the short geographical encyclopedia, this term refers to: “...elements of nature used in the national economy, which are the means of subsistence of human society: soil cover, useful wild plants, animals, minerals, water (for water supply, irrigation, industry, energy, transport), favorable climatic conditions (mainly heat and moisture), wind energy.”
A more general definition given by A. A. Mints: natural resources... bodies and forces of nature, which at a given level of development of productive forces and knowledge can be used to meet the needs of human society in the form of direct participation in material activity.
There is also the following concept: “Natural resources are a set of objects and systems of living and inanimate nature, components of the natural environment surrounding humans, which are used in the process of social production to satisfy the material and cultural needs of man and society. "(According to L.A. Bagrova).
Natural resources are a spatio-temporal category; their volume varies in different regions of the globe and at different stages of socio-economic development of society. Bodies and natural phenomena act as a certain resource if a need arises for them. But needs, in turn, appear and expand with the development of technical capabilities for the development of natural resources.
For example, oil was known as a flammable substance as early as 600 BC. e., but they began to develop it as a fuel raw material on an industrial scale only in the 60s of the 19th century. It was from this time that oil turned into a truly accessible energy resource, the importance of which has been steadily increasing.
In a primitive communal society, human needs and his ability to develop natural resources were limited to hunting wild animals, fishing, and gathering. Then agriculture and cattle breeding arose, and, accordingly, soil cover and vegetation were included in the composition of natural resources, which served as a food supply for grazing livestock. Wood was mined in the forests for the construction of dwellings and for firewood, the development of minerals (coal, ores, building materials) gradually began, some metals and their alloys (bronze, gold, iron, etc.) began to be used for the manufacture of tools, weapons, jewelry, man learned to harness the energy of wind and falling water. As production developed, not only the volume of developed natural resources expanded, but new areas of virgin nature were also brought into economic circulation.
The territorial expansion of the sphere of economic activity of human society and the involvement of new types of natural resources in material production caused various changes in nature, which manifested themselves in the form of various natural-anthropogenic processes. In pre-capitalist society, these processes of change were not widespread and were concentrated in certain regions - centers of world civilization (Mediterranean, Mesopotamia and the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia). And although at all times the development of natural resources by man has been of a consumer nature, it has rarely led to serious large-scale environmental disasters. The intensity of development of natural resources and the volume of natural resources involved in economic activity began to increase sharply in the era of the emergence and development of the capitalist social structure.
The use of machinery was accompanied by a significant increase in the volume of extracted raw materials (wood, minerals, agricultural products, etc.). During the period of development of capitalism, there was a rapid increase in the scale of use of natural resources in general and, above all, resources of mineral raw materials and fuel. Forests were intensively cut down in order to obtain wood raw materials for industry and convert forest lands into agricultural ones, which occupied vast areas. The growth of productive forces was accompanied by enormous damage caused to natural resources by their irrational use, inherent in the very nature of capitalism.
“Capitalist production develops technology and the combination of the social process of production only in such a way that it undermines at the same time the sources of all wealth: the land and the worker.” At the same time, the condition of the entire natural environment deteriorated, since when using natural resources, a person enters, directly or indirectly, into interaction with the entire nature surrounding him. At the same time, new types of natural resources were being developed. Lands that were previously considered unsuitable for plowing (swampy, saline, or suffering from moisture deficiency) are being reclaimed, and new types of minerals are being developed (oil, natural gas, uranium, rare metals, etc.). Natural resources in the process of development are subject to deeper and more complex processing (production of petroleum products, synthetic materials, etc.). But the method of production, based on expanded material reproduction, on obtaining maximum profit, does not take into account the peculiarities of the formation of natural resources, the volume of their natural renewal and uses, first of all, the highest quality and most conveniently located reserves.
In the second half of the 20th century. resource consumption has increased greatly, covering almost the entire land mass and all currently known natural bodies and components. Scientific and technological progress has influenced environmental management. Technologies have been developed for the development of such types of natural resources that were not previously included in the concept of “natural resources” (for example, desalination of salty sea waters on an industrial scale, the development of solar or tidal wave energy, nuclear energy production, offshore oil and gas production, and much more ). An idea emerged about potential resources or resources of the future. Economic factors that determine the profitability of their economic use are of great importance in the development of natural resources. Not all natural resources “lie on the surface” and can be easily calculated and taken into account. Thus, the volumes of groundwater, many types of minerals, raw materials for various chemical industries are determined and clarified as a result of complex, often expensive scientific or technical research. For example: “Research of the shelf zone of the Black Sea and the waters of the Azov Sea carried out in the last decade has shown the presence of a large fund of positive structures, many of which have not yet been explored and are promising in terms of oil and gas content.” As scientific research progresses, knowledge about it becomes more accurate. In a number of similar cases, the technology for extracting raw materials is determined, but only at the stage of experimental rather than industrial development.
Mineral resources of Crimea
Among natural resources Crimea has a prominent place in its mineral resources, which play a very important role in the economic and cultural development of the region. There are more than 200 deposits of solid, liquid and gaseous minerals, about 170 of them are included in the State Balance of Mineral Reserves of Ukraine. Their formation is due to the long history of the geological development of the peninsula over 240 million years, covering 7 geological periods, from the Triassic to the Quaternary. Of the 90 mineral deposits currently being developed, hydrocarbons, hydromineral resources and solid minerals are of greatest economic importance (see Appendix D).In the last decade, many quarries have emerged for the extraction of building stone, wall blocks, crushed stone, and facing material. They are scattered throughout the peninsula. The extraction of raw materials causes irreparable damage to the environment. Explosive technology used in quarries pollutes the air, thereby reducing the level of climatic healing resources. The Crimean region still has insignificant proven hydrocarbon reserves: oil - 1.245 million tons (5 fields), gas condensate - 3.2 million tons (5 fields) and natural gas - 54.0 billion m3 (12 fields), of which 44.35 billion m3 are on the sea shelf. Preliminarily estimated reserves: oil 2.56 million tons, condensate - 4.44 million tons, natural gas - 55.20 billion m3, incl. 42.67 billion m3 on the sea shelf. Their production is carried out in small quantities (1994): natural gas - 0.6 billion m3, oil - 35.7 million tons and gas condensate 22.5 thousand tons per year, which in relation to production in Ukraine is 2.8, 0.9 and 2.7%, respectively. At the same time, the southern (Black Sea-Crimean) oil and gas region contains significant promising and forecast resources of natural gas in the amount of 1065 billion m3, oil - 234 million tons and gas condensate - 213 million tons, which in relation to similar the resources of these minerals in Ukraine as a whole are 51.8, 45 and 70%, respectively; the predominant part of them falls on the Black Sea shelf. The data presented indicate great prospects for the identification, exploration and industrial development of new hydrocarbon deposits, which would make it possible in the future to fully meet the hydrocarbon needs of not only Crimea, but also the entire Southern Economic Region. The peculiarity of the region is that a significant part of the promising areas on the shelf lies under a large layer of sea water - 70 meters or more, and this seriously complicates the conditions for field development. It is advisable to attract, on mutually beneficial terms, foreign companies that have advanced technologies for conducting geological exploration and production of hydrocarbons in compliance with the requirements of environmental legislation. In the current socio-economic conditions, this problem deserves full support from the governments of Crimea and Ukraine. Until now, there are no objective criteria of influence in the foreign and domestic literature geopathogenic zones(ILI) for humans and animals; there is no defined period after which staying in an ILI becomes dangerous. Environmental protection activities in Crimea are characterized by departmental disunity, lack of system, lack of software, scientific, methodological and information base. Therefore, the government should create a system for monitoring and managing public health, developed on the basis of the concept of preserving people and strengthening their health in Crimea and the concept of sustainable development of the Crimean region; The Crimean Academy of Sciences, together with the Ministry of Health of Crimea, in order to predict the consequences of anthropogenic influence on the environment and human populations, organize a study of a biochemical model for the regulation of human physiological functions depending on the characteristics of the geochemical environment.
Minerals of Crimea
The mineral resources of Crimea are closely related to the history of its geological development, and their distribution is closely related to its structure. The mineral resources available in Crimea are usually divided into three main groups: metal (ore), which are used for smelting metals; non-metallic (not ore), often used in their raw form (building stones, clays, sands, salts, etc.). Flammable (oil, natural gases, coal). The depths of the Crimean peninsula contain industrial deposits of many minerals, but the most important are iron ores, deposits of building and fluxing limestones, the salt wealth of Sivash and lakes, as well as gas deposits in the plain Crimea and in the Karkinitsky Bay.
Iron-ores The Kerch iron ore basin, which is part of the huge Azov-Black Sea iron ore province, was formed in the second half of the Neogene period, in the so-called Cimmerian Age, which began approximately 5 million years ago and lasted at least 1.5 - 2 million years. On the modern territory of ore deposits there was then a shallow Cimmerian Sea, or rather, the delta region of the paleo-Kuban, paleo-Don, paleo-Molochnaya and other rivers. The rivers brought here a large amount of dissolved iron, which they extracted (leached) from the rocks of the drainage area. At the same time, the rivers brought a mass of sand and clay particles into the basin in suspension. Due to a change in the reaction of the environment, iron formed compounds here that enveloped grains of sand that were in suspension. This is how concentric shell-like glandular formations of round or ellipsoidal shape, called oolites, were formed. The diameter of oolites (beans) ranges from fractions of a millimeter to 4 - 5 mm or more. They, held together by sandy-clay cement, form ore deposits. In post-Cimmerian times, the ore deposits were subjected to severe erosion. They were preserved only in deep synclinal folds (troughs), as they were covered by later sandy-clayey rocks. There are nine such large iron ore troughs known on the Kerch Peninsula. Due to different rates of neotectonic movements, ore deposits are now located at different depths: in some places they come to the surface, in some places they lie at a depth of 30 - 70 m, and in the area of Lake Aktash they were found at a depth of 250 m.
The average thickness of the ore layers is 9 - 12 m, the maximum is 27.4 m, and the iron content in the ores ranges from 33 to 40%. In general, the ores are poor in iron content, but their shallow occurrence, which allows for open-pit mining, and the high (1 - 2%) manganese content largely compensates for this deficiency. The chemical composition of Kerch ores is quite varied. In addition to iron and manganese, they contain vanadium, phosphorus, sulfur, calcium, arsenic and a number of other elements. During metallurgical processing, vanadium, which is rare in nature, can be extracted from ores. Its addition gives the steel high strength and toughness, which is so necessary for the manufacture of especially critical machine parts. Phosphorus, the content of which in ore is up to 1%, makes the metal brittle, therefore, when melting steel, they achieve its complete conversion into slag. Phosphorous slag is used to make fertilizers, which successfully replace superphosphate. Sulfur (0.15%) and arsenic (0.11%) are among the harmful impurities in Kerch ores, but their small amount does not significantly affect the quality of the metal. Due to a number of differences among Kerch iron ores, three main types are distinguished: tobacco, brown and caviar ores.
Tobacco ores, so named because of their dark green color, are strong and lie quite deep. They account for 70% of proven reserves. Brown ores overlie tobacco ores and are formed from them as a result of their weathering. In appearance they resemble brownish-brown clay. Caviar ores, whose structure resembles granular caviar, contain quite a lot (sometimes up to 4 - 6%) of manganese oxides, which give the ore a black and brownish-black color. These ores are classified as manganese-iron ores. Ores (brown and caviar) are mined at the Kamysh-Burunskoye and Eltigen-Ortelskoye deposits. At the Kamysh-Burunsky plant, ore is enriched by washing (up to 48.5%). At the sintering plant, the concentrate is mixed with coke and ground fluxing limestone and sintered into an agglomerate in special furnaces. Due to the burnout of a number of impurities, the iron content in the agglomerate increases to 51 - 52%. The fluxed sinter is sent in a hot state to the Azovstal plant in Zhdanov, where it goes directly into blast furnace smelting. Based on explored ore reserves, Kerch deposits occupy a significant place in the country's iron ore industry. Among the non-metallic minerals, various types of limestone are of great economic importance in the Crimea, which are used as natural building materials, fluxes, and chemical raw materials. About 24% of construction limestone reserves are concentrated in Crimea. They are developed in over a hundred quarries, the total area of which is 13 thousand hectares (0.5% of the peninsula's area).
Among building limestones Based on their physical and technical properties, the following varieties are primarily distinguished. Marble-like limestones are used in road construction as concrete aggregates. Polished slabs of them are used for interior decoration of buildings, and multi-colored chips are used for mosaic products. Limestones often have a delicate reddish or creamy color with beautiful white calcite crack patterns. The original contours of mollusk shells and corals give them a special flavor. Of all the varieties of Crimean limestone, they are chemically the purest. Marble-like Upper Jurassic limestones stretch in an intermittent strip from Balaklava to Feodosia, forming the upper horizons of the Main Range of the Crimean Mountains.
They are mined near Balaklava, village. Gaspra, s. Marble, as well as on Mount Agarmysh (near Old Crimea). Their extraction in resort areas violates the soil and water protection, sanitary, hygienic and aesthetic properties of local landscapes.
Bryozoan limestones consist of the skeletons of the smallest colonial marine organisms - bryozoans, which lived here at the very end of the Cretaceous period. These limestones are known in Crimea under the name Inkerman, or Bodrak, stone. They are easy to saw and are similar in strength to red brick. They are used for the manufacture of wall blocks, facing slabs, and architectural details. Most of the houses in Sevastopol, many buildings in Simferopol and in other settlements of Crimea and beyond were built from them. Deposits of bryozoan limestone are concentrated in the Inner ridge of the foothills in the area from the city of Belokamensk to the river. Alma.
Nummulite limestones consist of the shells of simple organisms (in Greek “nummulus” - coin) that lived in the sea in the Eocene era of the Paleogene period. Limestones are used as wall and rubble stones, as well as for burning lime. They form the ridge of the Inner Ridge of the Crimean Mountains along almost its entire length. They are mined mainly in the area of Simferopol and Belogorsk. Shell limestones consist of cemented whole and crushed mollusk shells. They were formed in the coastal zones of the Sarmatian, Maeotic and Pontic seas, which existed on the site of the foothills and plains of Crimea in the Neogene period. These are light, porous (porosity up to 50%) rocks, suitable for producing small wall blocks. Yellow pontic shell rocks are mined in the area of Evpatoria, village. Oktyabrsky and in many other places of the Crimean plain. Unfortunately, the land resources used are not always rationally spent and optimally reclaimed. When extracting limestone, a lot of crumbs (sawdust) are formed, which are now often successfully used as filler in high-strength reinforced concrete structures.
Flux limestones used in ferrous metallurgy. They must be of high quality, contain at least 50% calcium oxide, and insoluble (in hydrochloric acid) residue - no more than 4%. The content of at least a small (3 - 4%) amount of magnesium oxide is important. These requirements on the peninsula are best met by marble-like limestones from deposits in the vicinity of Balaklava and Mount Agarmysh. The Balaklava Mining Administration supplies fluxes to many metallurgical plants. For fluxing the agglomerate at the Kamysh-Burun plant, it turned out to be more advantageous to use local chemically suitable Sarmatian, Maeotic and Pontic shell limestones. Currently, Pontian limestone from the Ivanovskoye deposit is mined for these purposes. The complex chemical use of the salt resources of Sivash and lakes required a sharp increase in lime production. For these purposes, the most suitable is open in the area of the village. Pervomaisky deposit of dolomitized limestones and dolomites - a mineral consisting of calcium and magnesium carbonates. The demand for the extraction of limestone is great, and therefore measures are needed to rationalize its use and reclaim the places where they were mined.
Marls- These are sedimentary rocks of white, gray and greenish color, consisting of a mixture of approximately equal proportions of carbonate and clay particles. They were formed in the seas of the Late Cretaceous and in the Eocene era of the Paleogene periods. Most widespread in the foothills. Marls are a valuable raw material for the production of Portland cement. The best varieties of Eocene marls are found in the Bakhchisarai region. They are being developed by a building materials plant that grew out of an inter-collective farm cement plant. Marl reserves in Crimea are large. Mineral salts of Sivash and the salt lakes of Crimea are an important raw material base for the country's chemical industry. Thanks to favorable natural conditions, concentrated brine - brine - is formed in the lagoon of the Azov Sea, in Sivash and salt lakes. The salt content in it reaches 12 - 15, and in some places even 25%. The average salinity of ocean waters (for comparison) is about 3.5%. Scientists have found that 44 chemical elements available for production are dissolved in the waters of the seas and oceans. In brine, the largest quantities contain salts of sodium, magnesium, bromine, potassium, calcium, etc.
Salt riches Crimea has been used since time immemorial. However, almost until the October Revolution, only table salt was mined here. It was transported throughout Russia first by Chumaks on oxen, and since 1876 by rail. At the end of the 19th century. about 40% of the salt produced in Russia was mined in Crimea. Currently, little of it is produced here, due to production in other fields in the country. Now we are talking about the integrated use of the salt resources of Crimea. The production of brine magnesium hydroxide, a refractory raw material for the metallurgical industry, is very promising. As a by-product of this production, gypsum is obtained, which in a calcined state (alabaster) is widely used in construction. Along with this, at present, due to the processes of desalination of the Sivash brine with water coming from rice paddies and drainage systems, the formation of mineral salts in it is difficult. The Saki chemical plant, which worsens the conditions for the formation of medicinal mud in the local lake and the environmental situation at the resort as a whole, should be repurposed for environmentally friendly production.
Industrial reserves of tripoli are available on the Kerch Peninsula near the villages of Glazovki and Korenkovo. Due to their high porosity, tripoli, consisting of rounded grains of aqueous silica (opal), have high adsorbing (absorbing) properties. They are used for thermal and sound insulation, for the production of liquid glass, as an additive to Portland cement and as a filter material. Brick and high-grade bentonite clays are widespread in Crimea. Deposits of the best quality clays from the Early Cretaceous period are located in the foothills. To make ceramic products, they are mined in the areas of Balaklava, Simferopol, Belogorsk, Stary Crimea, and Feodosia.
More valuable for the national economy are bentonite clays, ilikil. It forms a well-degreasing and easily washed off emulsion in sea water, and the population of Crimea has long used it to degrease wool and wash fabrics in sea water. Currently, keel is used in the metallurgical industry, for the preparation of solutions used in drilling wells, and as an absorbent in the chemical industry. It is used for decolorization of fuels and lubricants, vegetable oils, wine, fruit juices, in the pharmaceutical industry, in soap making, in the production of artificial fibers, plastics, etc. Deposits of the highest quality clays (kila) of the Late Cretaceous period are located near the village. Ukrainian (near Simferopol) and near the city of Sevastopol. On the Kerch Peninsula, keel-like clays are common, which overlap layers of iron ore. Combustible minerals are divided into liquid (oil), gaseous (natural combustible gases) and solid (coal, etc.).
Oil seeps and in Crimea have been known for a long time on the Kerch Peninsula. The first wells were drilled here in the 60s of the 19th century. Limited volumes of oil were obtained mainly from the Chokrak and Karagan sediments of the Neogene period. Systematic exploration for oil began here after the Great October Socialist Revolution. All wells drilled for oil usually produced associated natural gas. After the Great Patriotic War, search work on the Kerch Peninsula was resumed. Small reserves of oil were discovered here and in the Maikop clay deposits. In 1954, exploration work was extended to the Crimean plain. From a number of wells that exposed Paleocene calcareous sandstones at depths from 400 to 1000 m, near the villages of Olenevka, Krasnaya Polyana, Glebovka, Zadornoye Black Sea region, gas fountains erupted with a flow rate of 37 to 200 m or more per day. In 1961, an exploration well that exposed Early Cretaceous rocks on the Oktyabrskaya area (Tarkhankut) produced a fountain of gas and oil from a depth of about 2700 m. The flow rate of the fountain was: 45 m3 of oil and 50 thousand m3 of gas per day.
Gas consisted of 61% methane, 22% ethane and propane and belonged to the dry group. In 1962 and 1964, the Dzhankoy and Strelkovskoye (Arabatskaya Strelka) industrial gas fields were discovered. Sandy layers in Maikop clays, lying at depths from 300 to 1000 m, turned out to be gas-bearing. 1966 is an important date in the history of the industrial use of local gas: the construction of the first gas pipeline from the Glebovsky field to Simferopol, with branches to Evpatoria and Saki, was completed. In subsequent years, gas pipelines to Sevastopol, Yalta and other cities were put into operation. With the construction of the Krasnoperekopsk - Dzhankoy gas pipeline, our region was connected to the country's Unified Gas Supply System. As explored onshore gas fields were depleted, offshore gas fields were developed - Strelkovskoye in the Sea of Azov and Golitsynskoye in the Karkinitsky Gulf of the Black Sea. The construction of a gas pipeline from the Golitsynskoye field to the Glebovskoye gas field has been completed. The blue fuel is transported through a 73-kilometer underwater pipeline, first built in Crimea, and then another 43 km on land. An extensive gas supply system has been created in Crimea. Over 630 thousand apartments and dozens of industrial enterprises have been supplied with gas.
The fact that in Crimea, in particular in the Balaklava area, there is hard coal, was first reported by an outstanding scientist of the late 18th - early 19th centuries. Academician P.S. Pallas. Industrial coal deposits were discovered in 1881 by P. Davydov in the Beshuya region, in the upper reaches of the river. Kachi.
Coal The Beshuiskoye deposit forms three layers in Middle Jurassic shale clays with a total thickness of up to 3 - 3.5 m. It belongs to gas coals. There are three varieties of it: resinous coal, the same resinous coal, but contaminated with layers of clay, and jet - black, with a resinous sheen, suitable for crafts. It was formed from the wood of evergreen coniferous trees, Araucaria, once widespread on the earth, and now growing wild in South America and Australia. The quality indicators of coal are low. It has a high ash content (from 14 to 55%), a relatively low specific heat of combustion (from 14.7 to 21.84 MJ/kg) and burns with a smoky flame. Reliable reserves of the Beshuiskoye coal deposit are 150 thousand tons, and possible reserves are up to 2 million tons. Since 1949, its production has been discontinued due to unprofitability. In addition, minor coal deposits are found in many places in the mountainous Crimea. Mineral and thermal waters are important mineral resources.
Podgorodetsky P. D.
27.04.2016
Mineral resources of Crimea - past, present and future
“I reached you, holy one, to the place where you were condemned to imprisonment, now called Inkerman, God-protected, you found there more than two thousand Christians, condemned to hew stone in these mountains: and you were assigned to that with them... ", - from the akathist to Saint Clement.
Ancient Provider
Crimea has a rich history going back centuries. Many peoples have left their mark in shaping the cultural and historical heritage of the peninsula. These are the Scythians and Cimmerians, Taurians, Greeks, Genoese, Goths, etc. But the threads of the history of Crimea are also closely intertwined with the Russian people and their ancestors. It is enough to note that in Crimea Saint Cyril met a Rus and became acquainted with the gospel written in his language even before the start of work on creating a canonical translation of the gospel into the Slavic language. Here, according to the life of Stephen of Sourozh, in the 8th century the army of Prince Bravlin was baptized, and two centuries later, Equal-to-the-Apostles Prince Vladimir would receive holy baptism in Chersonesos.
Despite the fact that Crimea became part of Russia only in the 18th century, the presence of the ancestors of the Russian people here has been celebrated since ancient times. Starting from the campaigns of princes Oleg and Igor, the peninsula did not leave the sphere of geopolitical, cultural and trade interests of Rus'. This is evidenced by traces of a Slavic settlement near Koktebel (Tepsel Hill), as well as the “Tmutorokan stone”, which immortalized the measurement of the Kerch Strait carried out in the 11th century. Subsequently, Crimea became the territory of military valor and glory of the Russian state, including such historical milestones as the defense of Sevastopol in 1853-1856. and 1941-1942 No less interesting is the history of Crimean mining, including in the context of world and Russian history.
Of course, the first examples of the use of minerals in Crimea can be attributed to the Chalcolithic, when the ancient population of the peninsula learned to make tools from silicon. This period dates back to human settlements in the area of Krasnoperekopsk, Belogorsk, Simferopol, etc. Later, the people who inhabited the Crimea mastered metal smelting. It can be assumed that metallurgical production was based not only on imported metal, but also on iron and gold directly mined on the peninsula. This should have been facilitated by the presence of relatively easily accessible deposits of these minerals in ancient times. Later in the 16th century, Polish envoy Martin Broniewski wrote about gold mining in the Crimean mountains.
In the first century from the birth of Christ in Crimea, Pope Clement, a disciple of the Holy Apostle Peter, worked in exile at the Inkerman quarries. This saint can rightfully be considered one of the heavenly patrons of the miners of the peninsula. Crimea supplied Greece and Rome with building materials for the construction of majestic temples and public buildings.
Speaking about the mineral resources of Crimea, we can distinguish the following main groups that are potentially promising for industrial subsoil use:
coal deposits;
iron and manganese ores;
mercury ores;
native sulfur;
bauxite;
bentonite clays;
construction minerals (sands, gravel, limestone, etc.);
salt deposits;
oil and gas fields.
Below is brief information about the above minerals with an assessment of the prospects for their development.
Coal deposits
The presence of coal deposits in Crimea was discovered at the end of the 18th century. Coal in Crimea is often found in the form of minor accumulations in sandstones and conglomerates of the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous. More massive coal deposits are typical for Middle Cretaceous rocks, however, due to the complex tectonic history of Crimea, the coal-bearing strata was preserved in extremely local areas of the mountainous Crimea.
The most famous coal deposit is Beshuiskoye, located 35 km from Bakhchisarai. The beginning of industrial development of the Beshuiskoye deposit was initiated by Baron Wrangel to solve the problem of heating the defending peninsula during the civil war. During the Soviet period, the development of the deposit was carried out until 1950.
Exploration work has identified four coal seams, of which only two are characterized as industrial. The coal seams of the deposit are characterized by fairly steep dip angles of up to 40-50 degrees, a complex structure with a thickness of 1 m to 3.5 m. The coals belong to grades D and G, characterized by an ash content of 15-25% and a very high sulfur content of 1.12-3.34%. The remaining reserves of the field are extremely insignificant.
In fact, it can be noted that due to its qualitative characteristics and limited reserves, the deposit is not of industrial interest. Other identified small manifestations of coal deposits (Biyuk-Uzenskoye, Deminier, Zaprudnoye, etc.) are also not of industrial interest.
Iron and manganese ores
On the territory of Crimea, only explored reserves of iron and iron-manganese ores amount to about 1.8 billion tons (of which categories A+B+C1 are about 1.4 billion tons), taking into account ore occurrences, the total resource potential is even more significant.
The main deposits and ore occurrences are concentrated on the Kerch Peninsula and along the Azov coast.
The high proportion of manganese and the presence of vanadium are partly compensated by such a negative factor as the high content of phosphorus, ranging from 0.02 to 1.5%, while the main reserves (73-81%) belong to phosphorous ore. This impurity negatively affects the quality of steel, which requires special attention to both beneficiation and metallurgy processes and quality management during mining, including the localization of the least phosphorous areas of ore deposits. Of course, the large reserves of the peninsula allow us to hope for the possibility of identifying the highest priority areas, both from the point of view of mining and geological conditions and the quality characteristics of the ores.
According to the conditions of occurrence and the average content of the useful component, the main priority method of extraction is open-pit. In modern market conditions, the construction of underground mines for the extraction of iron ores containing 30-40% total iron is obviously unpromising. Based on the conditions of occurrence of ore bodies (judging by the available schematic sections), within the deposits it is possible to identify areas with a stripping ratio mainly lying in the range from 0.4-1.5 m 3 /t, which is a relatively high, although not prohibitive value. Ore-bearing rocks are clays, sands, limestones, sandy clays, loams, etc. That is, basically, raw materials suitable for use in the construction industry. Thus, in the case of comprehensive development of deposits, with the sale of part of the overburden rocks, the economic efficiency of mining the iron ore deposits of the peninsula will increase significantly.
Previously, a plant operated on the peninsula, working on raw materials from the Kamysh-Burun and Eltigen-Ortel deposits. Iron ore production in 1983 reached 5.4 million tons, producing concentrates with a quality of 44-49%. The concentrate was supplied to the Azovstal metallurgical plant (Mariupol). With the collapse of the USSR, the iron ore industry of Crimea gradually fell into decline. So already in 2005, production was stopped, and the plant was mainly engaged in processing Krivoy Rog iron ores into sinter.
In 2015, a decree of the Republic of Crimea was issued: “To create a State Unitary Enterprise of the Republic of Crimea “Kamysh-Burunskaya Production Company”. Determine that the main goal of the activities of the State Unitary Enterprise of the Republic of Kazakhstan “Kamysh-Burunskaya Production Company” is the production of coke-free iron, rolled metal, and cement; production of limestone and sinter....” Considering, due to known circumstances, the impossibility and inexpediency of using raw materials from Ukrainian companies, only the ores of the peninsula can be considered as a source of raw materials. At the same time, it is advisable to consider not only the restoration of the Kamysh-Burgunsky plant, but also the involvement of other areas in production.
An obvious advantage of the Crimean iron ore deposits is their proximity to ports, which largely compensates for the disadvantages of ores caused by the presence of harmful impurities. The closest iron ore mining and processing plants in Russia are Lebedinsky, Mikhailovsky and Stoilensky, located from the Black Sea ports at a distance of 1000-1100 km, with logistical difficulties in shipping marketable products along existing railway tracks. The actual additional costs associated with the delivery of iron ore products from these mining and processing plants to the Black Sea ports, at current tariffs for railway transportation, amount to about 1000-1500 rubles per ton of product. This value is comparable to the cost of a ton of concentrate at these mining and processing plants.
To obtain commercial products that are competitive on the world market, you should focus on concentrates with an iron content of about 65-66%. Moreover, it is ideal to reach the production of final commercial steel products, which is primarily determined by the specifics of the qualitative composition of the ores and the possible specifics of the quality of concentrates, which complicate direct sales to the foreign market.
It should be noted that the traditionally high energy intensity of the processes of extraction, enrichment of iron ores and especially the subsequent metallurgical processing, usually amounting to about: 10-15 kWh per 1 ton of rock mass, 50-70 kWh/t. concentrate for enrichment processes and 300-400 kWh to produce 1 ton of steel. Thus, obtaining commercial products in the form of concentrate, taking into account the promising stripping ratio and irregular electrical loads, will require about 60 million kWh of electricity per 1 million tons of ore production. In turn, processing melon concentrates into standard steel will require an additional 140 million kWh of electricity. In other words, to launch a full cycle of mining and metallurgical production, designed for 10 million tons of iron ore production per year, about 350 MW of electrical capacity will be required. The full development of the iron ore industry of the peninsula will become possible with the planned commissioning of a thermal power plant in 2018 with an installed capacity of about 940 MW.
Mercury deposits
On the territory of the mountainous Crimea, numerous mercury ore occurrences have been noted, including Alminskoe, Lozovskoe, Malo-Salgirskoe, Perevalnenskoe, Privetnenskoe, Veselovskoe - confined to zones of intense fracturing and hydrothermal changes. There are also traces of the presence of mercury in the products of mud volcanism. The mercury content in individual samples reached 2-3%, although in general it did not exceed tenths and hundredths of a percent. In some cases, mercury-containing minerals are associated with barite, galena, sphalerite and chalcopyrite. To fully assess the prospects for identifying mercury deposits, prospecting and geological exploration work is advisable.
Native sulfur
The first scientific information about the presence of native sulfur deposits in Crimea dates back to 1849. And already in 1909, industrial production began at the Chekur-Koyash deposit of native sulfur, discovered in 1883 by N. I. Andrusov. Mining was carried out in small quantities until 1917. Later, the first USSR sulfur mine was opened on the basis of the deposit, which began operation in 1930. With the discovery of large sulfur deposits in Central Asia, mining of the mine ceased.
In Crimea, dozens of manifestations of sulfur are currently known with contents of useful components reaching 10-30%. Quite large sulfur deposits are Novonikolayevskoye and Chistopolskoye, located on the Kerch Peninsula. The sulfur content in the rock reaches 12-14%.
In general, the prospects for industrial sulfur production in Crimea are small, both due to the relatively small volumes and the complex mining and geological structure of promising mining areas.
Bauxite
Crimea is quite promising in terms of bauxite raw materials. Bauxite ore occurrences are confined to the northern and northwestern parts of the synclinorium of the southwestern part of the peninsula, the zone of distribution of Upper Jurassic reef limestones with karst and erosion-karst depressions, as well as the weathering surface of the effusive-shale complex of rocks that make up the northern slope of the Kachinsky anticlinal uplift.
The most studied ore occurrence of the Basman-Kermen ridge. Bauxite overlies Oxfordian limestone deposits. Geological work has identified three main ore bodies, the largest of which was traced by exploration workings to 850 m. Along the dip, the ore bodies were traced to a depth of 100-200 m. The maximum thickness of the main ore layer is 4.5 m.
Crimean bauxites are characterized by the following main characteristics:
low silicon index, mainly lying in the range of 2.1-2.8;
titanium module 26-29;
The calcium module generally ranges from 0.6 to 10%.
mineral composition includes: diaspore-boehmite - 28-40%, halloysite, kaolinite - 23-38%, iron hydroxides - 20-24%, hematite - 24%, calcite - 0-8%, titanium group minerals - 0.5- 3%, impurities -0.5-1%.
In general, it should be noted that further geological and economic assessments and work on the presence of bauxite deposits of industrial significance are promising. The presence of vanadium, zirconium, and beryllium in Crimean bauxites determines the feasibility of a comprehensive study of the resource base of the deposits, with an assessment of the presence of rare and rare earth elements.
Bentonite clays
Crimean bentonite clays (kil) are valuable raw materials. Keel is a finely dispersed, homogeneous, soap-like rock with hydrophilic properties, a large specific surface area, and the ability to absorb fats. This determines wide areas of application of the keel, incl. in metallurgy, the chemical, perfume and pharmaceutical industries, as raw materials for the preparation of pesticides for agricultural purposes, drilling fluids, as catalysts for oil cracking, for the manufacture of powders, for decolorization of food products, petroleum and fatty products, for balneological purposes, etc. Kil lies in in the form of interlayers and lenses in marly rocks of the Upper Cretaceous, and are also found in deposits of the Sarmatian stage.
There are numerous manifestations of clubroot near the village of Konstantinovka, the village of Maryino, the village of Skalistoe, the village. Belaya Skala, Michurinskoe village, Melovoe, village Glubokoye, Prokhladnoye village, on the banks of the Alma, Bodrak, Chernaya rivers, etc. The most significant deposits are Kudrinskoye and Kamysh-Burunskoye with total reserves listed on the balance sheet of 650,000 tons.
Construction minerals
Crimea is rich in construction minerals, including:
igneous rocks (diorites, grano-diorites, diabases, porphyrites, etc.), recorded balance reserves - about 41 million m 3;
sands, recorded balance reserves - about 12 million m 3;
sand and gravel mixtures, recorded balance reserves - about 3.6 million m 3;
clays and loams, recorded balance reserves are about 62 million m 3;
sand and gravel mixtures, recorded balance reserves are about 3.6 million m 3;
gypsum, recorded balance reserves - about 2 million m 3;
marl, recorded balance reserves - about 175 million tons;
sandstones, recorded balance reserves - about 727 million m 3;
facing limestone, recorded balance reserves - about 9.7 million m 3;
sawn limestone, recorded balance reserves - about 308 million m 3;
fluxing limestone, recorded balance reserves - about 1 billion tons.
The real potential of the peninsula for construction minerals is much higher than the officially recorded reserves. The rational consumption radius of most construction minerals is limited to 300-500 km, which is due to the significant costs of transporting raw materials. The geography of the Crimean deposits makes it possible to minimize the transport component in the cost of construction raw materials for consumers.
It should be noted that fluxing limestones, tripoli, dolomites and bentonite clays can simultaneously be classified as mining chemical, metallurgical raw materials, and construction raw materials.
Separately, it should be noted the Mshankovsky limestones, which are better known as Inkerman and Bodrax stone, used as a valuable building and facing stone. These rocks have great strength and are easy to cut. Deposits of Mshankovsky limestones stretch along the western foothills of Crimea.
Marble-like limestones of the Upper Jurassic and shell limestones are also in demand as facing materials.
Coloring clays (brown, yellow, red, green, black, etc.) from the Feodosia, Imaret, Armatluk and Nannikov deposits can be used for the production of oil paints and dyes in the glass and porcelain industries.
Of course, the construction boom noted on the peninsula in connection with the development of infrastructure and the residential sector will be one of the stimulating factors for the development of deposits of construction raw materials.
Salt deposits
The salt resources of Crimea have been known since ancient times. Thus, the ancient Greek geographer Strabo mentioned the salt pan near Chersonesos. In the 19th century, up to 40 percent of Russia's culinary supply came from Crimea. The main resources relate to several dozen salt lakes, grouped as follows: Evpatoria, Tarkhaknut, Perekop, Kerch and Sivash. The lakes differ markedly in the chemical composition of brines, the thickness of bottom sediments, the chemical composition of silts and the volume of the resource base.
On average, the composition of Crimean salts includes sodium chloride 76-80%, magnesium chloride about 10%, magnesium sulfate 4-7%, calcium chloride 0-8%, potassium chloride 2%. The bromine content in salt reservoirs is typical for the oceans. In some lakes sodium sulfate 3.5-9.5% is also found.
Salt lakes are promising both for the extraction of edible salt and for the production of bromine, mother brines, magnesium chloride, mud for balneological purposes, iodine-containing preparations, etc.
Interesting reports about possible plans of the Rosatom company to extract rare earth elements from the water of the salt lakes of Crimea, including Lake Sivash, simultaneously obtaining fresh water.
Other solid minerals
The presence of significant gold deposits seems to be supported by the widely known Scythian gold found in Crimea. However, there is no certainty that ancient jewelers used local rather than imported raw materials. However, there is information about the presence of gold concentrations close to industrial concentrations at Cape Fiolent, Cape Frantsuzhenka, along the Azov coast and in other areas of Crimea. In general, gold concentrations do not exceed 1-3 grams per ton of rock, which is a relatively low content that requires, at a minimum, the presence of large deposits suitable for open-pit mining to begin industrial development.
In Crimea, amethyst, agate, opal, chalcedony, brocade jasper, carnelian, etc. are found in small quantities.
Also in Crimea, the presence of titanium minerals was noted in non-industrial concentrations. It should be noted that the geological knowledge of Crimea is insufficient and in the future we can expect a significant expansion of the resource base, both in the form of adding to the balance sheet traditional types of minerals for Crimea, and new ones.
Broad prospects can be seen in the study of the Black Sea shelf zone, with the development of technologies for offshore production of both liquid and gaseous hydrocarbons and solid minerals.
Problems and tasks for the development of the mineral resource base of Crimea
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Text: A. A. Tverdov, technical director of IMC Montan, Ph.D. tech. Sciences, OERN expert, State Reserves Committee expert, Rostechnadzor certified expert
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